Setting goals for your small business website can help serve as a business catalyst. With your Google Analytics account you can set specific goals for visitors on your site and track how often you meet those goals. This gives you an indication of what you currently do well and what you need to work on to grow your business. The information can be the catalyst you need to make improvements.

Log in to your Google Analytics account. In the list of websites associated with the account, click "Edit" for the site on which you want to set up goals.

Click "Add Goal."

Type a name for the goal in the "Goal Name" field.

Click a goal type. You have three options: URL destination, time on site and pages/visit. If you want to track the time the average visitor stays on your site, select "Time on Site" and enter the goal time. If you want to track how many pages the average visitor views on your site, click "Pages/Visit" and enter the number of pages per visit you want as a goal. If you want to track how many people visit a particular page on your site, click "URL Destination" and proceed to the next step.

Click the "Match Type" drop-down menu and select an option. If you want Google Analytics to match the exact URL that you are tracking, then select "Exact Match." "Head Match" and "Regular Expression" are other options for sites that dynamically generate URLs.

Enter the URL of the page you want to track in the "Goal URL" field.

Enter a dollar amount in the "Goal Value" field, if you attach a specific monetary value with completion of the goal.

Click "Yes, Create a Funnel for This Goal," if you want to track a specific process on your site. For example, you can track the number of visitors who go from a product description page to the product order page. Enter the URL for each step in the process.

About the Author

A professional writer, Michael Butler has been writing Web content since 2010. Butler brings expertise in legal and computer issues to his how-to articles. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from Washburn University. Butler also has a Juris Doctor from Indiana University School of Law, Bloomington.